Donald Francis Smith

Donald Francis Smith, a veteran ABC newsman who retired from WXIA-TV four years ago, died Aug. 9 of a heart attack in Atlanta. He was 69.

Smith worked for ABC for 19 years, including stints in its Atlanta and Washington news bureaus. He was among the journalists to travel with President Nixon on his history-making trip to China in 1972, and he reported on the Communist takeover of South Vietnam in 1975.

Smith went to work for WXIA in 1982. Before his retirement, he was editor of the station’s early morning newscast.

Survivors include his wife, Carolyn Smith, a daughter, three sons, a brother and two grandchildren.